AVION Travel Trailers

Howdy,

I checked on my trailer today and it seems we have had a visitor as I saw mouse droppings. My guess is that the mouse got in via the fresh water tank drain valve access in the subfloor (there is a cut out in the subfloor under the bed which gives you access to the valve). How do you guys mouse/insect proof this?

Thanks!

Rostam -

Did you find a solution to this?

During my rear bath floor re-con process, I have observed the plumbing holes sizes are exceptionally oversized. I supposed it was done for ease of assembly during production. A former owner used copious amounts of "Great Stuff" high-expansion foam to seal one hole. It ballooned into a monstrous mess.

Low-expansion gun foam works very well and is manageable. I used Touch N Seal all-season gun foam in my prior business. I also used a vibrating saw (eg: Fein) to sculpture or level it.

However, some rodents will tunnel through foam like a boring machine. We used wire mesh or metal to protect the foam.

I plan on using rubber grommets where possible. One supplier near me have some with a 2-1/8" bore diameter.

I also plan on replacing the fresh water drain fitting with an elbow. I'll run a piece of pipe/tubing toward the edge of the trailer and install a drain valve. My goal is to simplify the weatherization process for all plumbing tanks and lines.

I hope you find this useful.

Bob

yes, I used duct tape to cover the area under the bed that gives you access to fresh water tank. Not an elegant solution (I have to redo this when I need access to water tank), but it works. We have not had any un-wanted visitors since

At some point, I''ll try to fabricate a piece of plastic or plywood to fully cover the area. But thats not a top priority right now.

When I first got our Avion one of the first things I did was go over every square inch of the underbelly and make sure it was well fastened at all seams. Self tappings hex head screws and fender washers did the trick. I also sealed any gaps or penetrations into the bellypan (e.g. trailer tongue, waste valves, fenders) with polyurethane caulk or a mixture of foam and aluminum window screen. There were also a couple places where I had to fasten some aluminum cutouts using rolled aluminum from Lowes. So far so good in terms of keeping the mice out.